Scotch Hall
Why it's listed
Overlooking Batchelors Bay and the Albemarle Sound from a bluff in Bertie County, Scotch Hall is a five-bay, two-and-a-half story frame house built about 1838 for planter George Washington Capehart. It has a center-hall plan, beaded siding, paired brick chimneys at each end, and porches with Tuscan columns. Only the simple mantels show Greek Revival influence, so the house reflects the lasting strength of the Federal style in rural North Carolina. The site was settled earlier, and a small brick house thought to date from the 1700s once stood in the front yard. The Capeharts ran one of the state's largest antebellum plantations, with thousands of acres and hundreds of enslaved workers, and also operated a fishery. A tutor to the Capehart children wrote the 1851 novel Bertie, set at the house. Family furniture and portraits remain inside, and the possibility of archeological remains adds to its significance.
Significance in brief: The nomination ties the house to the Capehart family, whose holdings of about 8,000 acres worked by nearly 300 slaves made up the largest plantation in Bertie County and one of the largest in the state. It also served as the setting for the 1851 novel Bertie. Architecturally, it is a largely unchanged example of a vernacular house from the transition between the Federal and Greek Revival styles, with a center-hall, double-pile plan.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 82003428, listed April 29, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | E of Merry Hill on SR 1511, Merry Hill |
|---|---|
| County | Bertie County |
| Listed | April 29, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82003428 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Vernacular Federal-to-Greek Revival transitional |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as occupied, in excellent condition, and in use as a private residence; altered with mid-1960s additions but on its original site. |
| Acreage | 17 |
| Coordinates | 35.97520, -76.70838 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 82003428.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18157845
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.